~ J. Andrews: Memoir and Ruminations

Why the Actions of #MeToo Women Are Unethical and Unconstitutional

Over the weekend of December 10 we saw on television the glee of women legislators who pressured Al Franken to resign over public accusations of sexual misconduct.

Today we hear more of the same–a vocal, angry blanket accusation of men that is costing them their jobs, their reputations, their families, their self-respect.

Not one allegation prompting CEO’s to fire any man who is the subject of said accusations has been part of a filing under the Violence Against Women Act of 2013, signed into law by Barack Obama and including the crimes of harassment and stalking. This act contains provisions for special circumstances, such as accusers coming forward years after the fact. A woman contacting an attorney to lodge formal complaints under this Act would be heard, and would be taken seriously.

The rule of law is the path to take in the United States of America, a democratic country underpinned by the Constitution, the document setting forth every American’s right to due process.

This law is a potent weapon for those who allege victimization of a sexual nature. But instead of using the Constitutional mechanisms for redress that exist, the women of the #MeToo movement have managed to launch their smear campaign of “name and shame,” scaring CEO’s into firing men solely on unproven allegation. These women think nothing of ruining an accused’s reputation, costing him his job, his professional stature, or the respect of his family and his community.

That this has happened to one man, let alone a dozen, is wrong. It constitutes reverse perpetration outside the rule of law; it is unconstitutional on its face and it is dehumanizing.

Allegations are not facts. Women on this bandwagon are not heroines and women coming forward like chirping baby parakeets are not brave. In public libeling, they are perpetrators, every bit as much as the men they accuse. They call for vigilante justice on the order of lynching.

Allegations without proof used to not be printed in newspapers or aired on television; there was a healthy and just fear of “yellow” journalism of the kind that sensationalizes, slanders, conflates, and whose mission is to bring down someone in power. \

I know how it feels to be named and shamed, to be the target of demonization and of scapegoating. I know how it feels to be cold-bloodedly enraged enough to bring down a perpetrator. What was done to me was outside the boundaries of the law and in several instances I have invoked my civil rights, only to incur the wrath of civil attorneys unacquainted with the legislation that protects me and my civil rights.

I have had the sense to resort to the rule of law rather than burning down someone’s house or hiring someone to have a given perpetrator shot in the back, or making it a career to ruin him for all time. I have also at times named my perpetrators on this blog. Venting on one’s blog, a blog few read, is one thing. Far more importantly, I believe that it is morally wrong to publically “out” men to punish them for unsubstantiated allegations, before a man can avail himself of the due process of law that is his birthright.

I believe that in naming and shaming men, women are becoming perpetrators and victimizers themselves. To drive Al Franken out of Congress before he can undergo an ethics committee investigation is a moral crime at the very least. The women who believe they are acting out of a de facto no tolerance policy are wrong. You can’t make policy on the fly–not legitimate policy.

It is powerful women who are bringing down powerful men in a battle worthy of a Japanese Godzilla movie. The animus felt by everyone in the country is not a good thing for any of us. Yet this mess is being billed as “a turning of the tide, a pivotal moment in history.”

We have a small handful of men who have admitted they engaged in sexual misconduct. One is the sitting president, caught on an Access Hollywood tape. Where is the #MeToo movement regarding this fact. Where are the congressional women on this issue. Where is the outrage, the hue and cry.

The appropriate thing to do is to file civil suit against alleged perpetrators under the Violence Against Women Act and other applicable laws. That is what a rational woman does, rather than turning herself into a human screech owl, trying to conflate her ass being pinched with sexual abuse.

We are either a nation of laws or we are not. We either honor the Constitution and The Bill of Rights or we do not. We educate ourselves on legal options or not.

Recently accused Harold Fort Jr has it right. He is suing his perpetrator and his employer for firing him without cause. The inevitable backlash has begun.